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- Aaron Churchill is among the voices discussing state test score data and how fast (or slow) some states are in releasing that information to families and the public. Ohio has historically come out on the better side of the scale, but in 2023, as Aaron explains, we upped the game by requiring the state to give parents access to their own children’s test scores by June 30 of each year. He suggests that advocacy and parent pressure played a role in that important change. “There was a lot of understanding that students had lost ground during the pandemic,” he surmises, “and parents have info to make decisions for their own kids and whether it requires summer school.” Pity the parents in states who are still waiting for last year’s test scores today. (EdWeek, 10/4/24)
- Aaron also opined about the scourge of chronic student absenteeism in the Dispatch this weekend, offering some sobering data and a number of good suggestions on how to combat the problem at the state and local levels. (Columbus Dispatch, 10/4/24) The Dispatch also covered the announcement from last week that the governor and Ohio Department of Education and Workforce have a goal of reducing chronic absenteeism by 50 percent over the next five years. The piece also notes what the state is doing already. This includes attendance guides and intervention strategies for families, a focus on well-being and mental health resources, and the highly-touted Stay in the Game! initiative. We also learn that Columbus City Schools often holds events at schools with the Columbus Crew (that’s a professional soccer team; I looked it up) like “clap-ins,” pep rallies, and community meet-ups. (Columbus Dispatch, 10/6/24)
- Aaron’s op-ed and the Dispatch’s reportage only generally cite the coronavirus pandemic as the cause of our current super high chronic absenteeism rates. But leave it to Cleveland.com to really spell things out. To wit: “Since the pandemic, families have kept their children home for a variety of reasons that didn’t commonly result in absences before, including for minor ailments, mental health days, or travel that families previously reserved for school holidays. At the beginning of the pandemic, before a vaccine was available, health officials urged the public to watch for signs of the coronavirus. People stayed home if they had been exposed, said Rebecca School, an elementary school counselor in Bedford City.” The piece terms this a “culture shift” and the problem at hand is to shift the culture back again. “One thing,” says counselor School, “is relearning, both as parents and as students, that if we don’t have a fever, if we’re not vomiting, we might not need to stay home.” She also suggests, if I read this correctly, that situations which have been termed mental health crises are often rather “uncomfortable feelings” which “don’t last forever.” Her school leaders are working to “reassure parents that they can partner with the school counselors and other social, emotional and mental health professionals, both in the schools and outside, to help those students learn how to be resilient and gain some of the conflict management skills that we all need.” Talk about a cultural shift. (Cleveland.com, 10/6/24)
- There’s a lot going on in this story and you’ll probably have to read it all to see the various pieces in play here. Generally, it falls under our topic of the day, which is “culture shift”. But more specifically, it is (in my mind) about how the community feels toward certain high school students/teenagers. Long story short: One branch of the Dayton Public Library has changed its hours to close up shop every weekday between 2:30 and 5:00 pm to, very literally, keep Belmont High School students from hanging out there after school. This was the response decided upon after a fight among students on the library property back in September. Almost nobody is happy with the solution, it seems, but something big is going to have to change in the culture before those doors are unlocked again. Given the options presented so far, I personally don’t have a lot of hope for a quick resolution. (Dayton Daily News, 10/7/24)
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